Welcome to Close Call Sports. CCS objectively tracks and analyzes close and controversial calls in sport, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game. Developed from The Left Field Corner: MLB Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (UEFL), whose purpose is to objectively track and analyze umpire ejections, video instant replay reviews and their corresponding calls, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

UEFL Draft 2012: Crew and Primary Umpires

Welcome to the 2012 UEFL Draft for Crew and Primary Umpires. As per Rule 1, the Pre-Season (Spring Training) Draft has been established to distribute crew, primary and secondary umpires. Here's how the process works: First, we'll pick Crew and Primary Umpires and next we'll pick Secondary Umpires. Note: The Live Secondary Draft is scheduled for the afternoon of April 1. If you plan to participate in the the Live Secondary Draft, please send an e-mail RSVP to the UEFL Commissioners. If you will not attend, be advised the non-live Secondary round will run from March 17-30. Prop predictions will be made concurrent with the non-live Secondary round, from March 17-30.

Let's start with Crew and Primaries. This year's draft will employ a secret Crew & Primary pick. That is, until the UEFL draft is complete, all Crew and Primary draft picks shall remain secret (posts will remain unscreened or "in moderation"). Here are some additional Guidelines for Crew and Primary draft choices:

CREW: SECTION 2. Prior to the beginning of the year’s regular season, and during the spring training period of the pre-season, each member of the league shall select one MLB crew chief to serve as UEFL crew chief. See Also: Rule 3.
a. This round shall be conducted privately. Accordingly, two UEFL members may, by chance, pick the same umpire.
b. In the event of injury to the designated crew chief, the replacement umpire shall be whoever is appointed by MLB to replace the injured umpire as crew chief or acting crew chief of his MLB crew.
c. Although a member may select a non-MLB crew chief during this round, it is highly recommended that a crew chief be selected.

PRIMARY: SECTION 3. After or concurrent with the crew round, each member of the league shall select one umpire they believe will compile the most league points at the end of the postseason. Spring training and the All-Star Game do not count toward an individual umpire's points total. Primary umpires may be Triple A call-ups and may be the same umpire picked as UEFL Crew Chief.
a. This round shall be conducted privately. Accordingly, two UEFL members may, by chance, pick the same umpire.
(1) Primary umpires may be Triple A call-ups and may be the same as the umpire picked in SECTION 2 (crew round).
b. The primary umpire picked by one league member may be the same primary umpire of another member.
c. This process is conducted simultaneously and the primary umpire is submitted secretly, to ensure that no league member gains an unfair advantage by knowing any other member's primary umpire.

You may choose your Crew and Primary umpire draft picks by sending an e-mail to the Office of the UEFL Commissioner (recommended) or by replying to this post. Make sure you include your username, your Crew and/or your Primary umpire selection. You have until 11:59 PM Pacific Time on March 16 to submit your Primary umpire and you have until 11:59 PM Pacific Time on April 1 to submit your Crew selection. Umpires may be selected from the Umpire Roster / Stats page located on the UEFL Portal. Do not select a "Retired" umpire. Recall that MLB and AAA receive different base points for ejections (as defined in Rule 4) and that UEFL Crew Chiefs are on a different points schedule for their crew's ejections (Rule 3). If you have any questions about points, please e-mail the Office of the UEFL Commissioner.

Because the 2012 MLB Umpire Crews have not been released as of the time of this post, you may submit your Primary and Crew selections separately. Though we will provide you with the Crew Listing as soon as crews are available, our contingency plan in case Crew Listings are not available by April 1 is to extend the Crew round until April 6, when most umpire crews will have been observed during MLB's various opening series (Opening Days range from April 4-6). If this occurs, all points accrued prior to the sixth will remain valid and selections will close at 11:59 PM Pacific Time on April 6. The UEFL will post a deadline extension notice if this is to occur. Primary umpires must be submitted by 11:59 PM March 16, regardless of the Crew listing situation.

As always, if you have any questions regarding any of these processes, please post here or send an e-mail to the Office of the UEFL Commissioner.

Screened Comments have been set up. After you press "Publish," you should see a message that states, "Your comment/message will be visible after approval." If you do not see this message, your comment has not been submitted (consider e-mailing your selections if this is a persistent problem).

Refer to the Member Roster / Results page to see if your draft pick(s) has been submitted (there will be an "X" in the appropriate box aside your name if your selection(s) have been submitted). Since we're manually updating this form, it could take up to 12 hours for us to update it with selections.